Friday, February 29

Letterpalooza Lifts Off!

Just 24 hours after beginning Operation: Letterpalooza, it appears we have our first victory. According to Bill Simmons, the response from Sonics fans from all over the country has been overwhelming:

In six years of writing for ESPN.com, this is the longest piece I've ever sent to my editors -- nearly 15,000 words of anguished e-mails from Sonics fans around the country. I spent the past 24 hours sifting through them and whittling them down the best I could. Don't print this baby out. Read it, skim through it, do whatever you need to do. But definitely check it out.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to write an email--stay tuned for our next mission!

2 comments:

How can I, a 32 year old man, be in tears in the middle of my packed office?

How? Easy. It is these letters; the laughs and fond memories, and of course the tears for failed yesterdays and empty tomorrows.

Why does this feel so much like a wake? I hate funerals, avoid them at all costs. Yet I've already contacted (and been replied to) by two earlier letter senders through their myspace accounts. I felt compelled to do so, as if I've known them all my life. And to be honest, I have.

Words fail to express how we feel here, but the word tragedy does come to mind. I feel bad for the kids in Burma, because right now I care more about this than them. Gas prices are killing me, I live with a wall of debt and little hope to erase that, I see poverty and pain in thousands of places across the world and yet all I care about right now is keeping our team. But that isn't quite true. This tragedy, like any tragedy, is that it is an act that damages the greatest of things, the human spirit. Even if we keep our team, the tragedy remains, people have been hurt emotionally, and others will too. I'll even grant that I'd rather not see anyone from Oklahoma City feel this, even though there is a part of me that wants them to know my agony tenfold.

Props to Bill Simmons for providing us a national voice, and The folks over at SaveOurSonics for their efforts. Props to Ladd for his sister and her memory, thousands of us now share a little piece of her. Props to the fans from Cleveland and Baltimore and Hartford that lost teams in the modern era and empathize as one who KNOWS. To the Boston fans who in a matter of seconds made me forget why I've grown recently to hate you. Instantly you made me remember why I once felt a tremendous connection to you. Props to every single person who felt compelled to write, or at least share in this collective emotional connection.

We are, David Stern, every-man and every-fan. Please don't turn your back on us, for not only our best interests, but for your own.

I got my letter posted and read the follow up. I for one love the idea of peacefully protesting during a game as Simmons mentioned. I can think of no better game than the national game against Portland.

How do we go about getting this done? It must be as Simmons said, peaceful and benevolent, but it would really show the country how much Sonics mean to the fans.